The Discovery Challenge
by Krishnamurti-is-cool
Summary: An aspiring scientist just wants to find their niche in the world. So they decide to participate in a journey contest for Pokemon scientists called the Discovery Challenge. Little do they know, they are about to find out so much more.


**~A Discovery Awaits those who Dare Explore the World with an Open Mind~**

I created this fanfiction long ago when I was a young teenager. I was not satisfied with where the story was going, and life got in the way, so I scrapped the story and redid it five years later. I did extensive research and planning into the characters, setting, plot, Pokemon, science, scientists, and many other things. I hope this story educates as much as entertains. I also put a lot of GRE words in this fanfiction so be on the look out for them!

This fanfic is set in the universe of the Pokemon anime. Keep in mind I have not played Generation VI and Generation V and have no access to all episodes of the anime. I might get something wrong.

I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let the story begin...

* * *

**Prologue- The Establishment**

A cloaked man agilely moved up and scaled one of the the stone towers of a castle until he was slightly above a nearby roof. He let go, fell, and successfully grabbed onto a flag pole right below. He used this pole to propel himself toward his target. Despite the great speed he had, he still landed with an almost inaudible thud on the roof.

The intruder expected better security on the grounds he was trespassing. These people were not doing anything nefarious so he supposed they didn't think they needed it.

But they were wrong.

So _dearly_ wrong.

At this point, he saw a greenhouse-like glass structure in the middle of the roof. He rested next to it and removed one of the square, glass panels and peered inside for a better look. He found himself staring from above at a dining room and, thankfully, everything was within earshot. He looked down below to see a group of people collected around an elongated table.

He took out a small device that was rectangular, with rounded edges, that was painted a mixture of purple and black. He knew it seemed bland but it was a first prototype. All the device needed was to hear someone speak or hear a name, and it would summarize who that person was and what their major accomplishments were on the screen.

The intruder, having excellent connections, was able to secure this technology months before it became available on the market. For now, it had the uninspiring name of the HumanDex. And he was planning to put it to good use tonight.

The people gathered there were some of the most well known, powerful, and influential people on the planet. And they were all gathered to finalize the plans for a cross-regional contest.

Anything or anyone that a contest needed to be successful was there. Bankers to invest. Independent philanthropists to donate. Corporation heads to work out advertising. World renowned scientists to judge. This planning committee rivaled that of the most complex and complete Pokemon Leagues.

This cross-regional contest was only known as the Discovery Challenge. Speculation was abound on what exactly the Discovery Challenge was and what it entailed; the only thing confirmed was that it was a contest geared toward Pokemon scientists.

The cloaked man could only guess the purpose of the challenge was to generate interest in scientific and engineering professions. It was known these fields had a dearth of young people. The spying man already knew the core of the idea, which already didn't strike his fancy, and he had an agenda to find out more details of the event in hopes of stopping it.

There were so many people to retrieve information from, but he was the most interested in the people who were in charge of judging the participants in the Discovery Challenge. They were known as _The Giants_. And there are only five currently in the world. They were chosen for the amount of citations their research received, reputation for solid work, and overall societal impact of their research.

Only one scientist from each region is considered to be part of this coveted group. It was considered the highest honor a scientist could be bestowed with, and due to society's dependence on Pokemon, it was always someone whose research in some way involved the powerful creatures. The name of the group was inspired by the scientific saying; "Standing on the shoulders of giants." And every scientist aspired to become a giant.

His eyes naturally gravitated toward the head scientist of Kanto. The spy didn't need the HumanDex to say who this was. This was Gary Oak. He knew of Gary since his youth. Everyone did. His crowd of cheerleaders definitely made sure of that.

The man had since replaced his spiky hair for a messy, long look. He was the middle aged, wrinkles few and far between, and his hair hadn't quite grayed yet. Like many in his generation, he preferred to be clean shaven and lacked any distinctive facial hair. His face lost its childlike roundness long ago. He now had an elongated, oval face with a distinctive, narrow but very long nose which slightly pointed at the bottom. He was very thin for a man his age, but he definitely wouldn't be mistaken for frail.

This professor had an interesting history. At first, he was a star beginner trainer from Pallet town. Then, popular legend, said that he and his equally famous grandfather brought back to life an Aerodactyl. The young Gary Oak became obsessed ever since with the research field and abandoned his aspirations to become a Pokemon master forever. Yet the intruder wondered what Gary Oak did with himself since then.

"Any suggestions for the duration? Come on people, I have a lab to run back home!" Professor Oak huffed at the silence, "No one is going to go? Fine. Let's have the challenge go on for a year."

_**Gary Oak, the Pokemon Paleontologist**_

_Professor Gary Oak, not to be confused with professor Samual Oak, is the world's expert in Pokemon Paleontology. He found and bought to life various Pokemon alongside discovering new fossils along the way. He is currently the head of a research lab of the Pewter City museum._

_His impact lead him to be part of the Giants where he represents the Kanto region as head scientist._

Everyone at the table let out a mixture of sounds of disapproval, facepalms, and head shakes at Professor Oak's suggestion.

The tantalizing southern accent of the beautiful Donelle Nuboru filled the room, "I agree one year is far, far too short. We all need some time for relaxing, y'all."

_**Donelle Nuboru, the Pokemon Anthropologist**_

_Donelle Nuboru is the leader of the group and originally from Johto. She was the first to scientifically spot and record numerous findings of Ho-oh, one of the least seen Pokemon, on numerous occasions. In addition, she unlocked many caves and caverns by solving Unknown puzzles. These findings have been used to further understand the unique history Pokemon have had with human beings throughout the eons._

_Her impact lead her to be part of the Giants where she represents the Johto region._

Her slightly tanned skin seemed to glow. Her pale cheeks had a rosy glow to them and her wild, hazel eyes seemed to mesmerize anyone who dare stared into them. Despite her knock out looks, the head Johto scientist's research was still far more impressive to the spy.

"Three years?" One of the bankers suggested.

"Too long. Not many people will make that sort of commitment." An aging yet burly man said in a voice that was slightly too average for his massive frame. He scratched his white, trimmed bread and then crossed his wide arms.

_**Richard Brinks, the Pokemon Offense Expert**_

_It was known that Pokemon had type disadvantages and advantages since ancient history. Dr. Brinks wanted to understand on a deeper level why some Pokemon attacks were devastating to some and not others, essentially what were the physical mechanisms of strengths and weaknesses. His research lead to many healing potions such as burn heal and antidote. His findings also lead to significant advances in battle techniques. So much so that trainers themselves read his wordy research papers to improve their battle techniques._

_His impact lead him to be part of the Giants where he represents the Sinnoh region as head scientist._

"Why would you think that?" The obviously youngest scientist in the Giants Organization politely asked.

"The older folk are busy and most young people party, Cilias, unlike you."

Cilias was in his early twenties while the second youngest, Donelle, was in her mid thirties. His face still had the youthfulness of teenager years, but with his unmistakable decorum, lacked the rudeness teenage boys often had. The young man combed his fingers through his blond hair. And had blue eyes that seemed to pop out when another suggestion occurred to him.

"Two and a half years?" Cilias proposed.

_**Cilias, the Pokemon Linguistic**_

_He is said to develop techniques and technology to communicate with Pokemon. This, alongside much dedication and sharp research skills, has paved the way to understanding Pokemon in a wide variety of ways._

_His impact lead him to be part of the Giants where he represents the Unova region as head scientist. _

"We can't popularize a contest with fractions. Studies suggest the average person has the math skills of a third grader." One of the organizers of the event stated at the far end of the table.

"Well, maybe if people weren't leaving to become Pokemon masters at ten years old and stayed in school..." Richard lamented.

"What's wrong with that? I turned out okay." Dr. Oak added.

"No one asked you, Gary." Richard Brinks said.

"That's Professor Oak to you!"

"No, Professor Oak was your grandfather."

The whole room fell silent.

The intruder inched forward to get a better view. He could sense things were about to get very interesting.

Cilias flinched as Gary Oak reached for Dr. Brinks who was sitting next to him. Richard found himself in a headlock he, despite his physical strength, couldn't escape from. No one was surprised at Gary Oak's reaction. The remarks were pouring salt into an open wound. His grandfather perished recently, and Gary hadn't quite coped with that. Combine that with an unfriendly rivalry and history between Gary and Richard, it was enough to put the usually reserved Gary Oak over the edge.

The head scientist of Johto nervously played with one her red, curly locks. "Oh dear, they're fighting again."

"Let me go!"

"I thought I heard something," Oak looked at his rival scientist dead in the eyes and roughly tightened his lock, "but nobody's talking."

"You'll never be half the man your grandfather was!"

The two, in their scuffle, accidently knocked an elderly woman with wiry, blue hair from her slumber by hitting the back of her head. At the sight of the two fellow scientists fighting, she instantly stood up at an impressive height and raised her staff.

"Silence!"

The staff was slammed roughly on the ground. On impact, it emitted an eerie hum that reverberated and shook the room in its intensity. Gary complied, let go, and promptly seated himself. Dr. Brinks adjusted his collar back into place and also sat down. Both avoided eye contact with other and instead looked directly looked at their elder.

**Nebula Pines, the Pokemon Ecologist**

_She has navigated Hoenn and became an expert of Pokemon balance. She sees how Pokemon naturally respond to and shape the ecosystems around them and vice versa. In addition, she studies relationships in different Pokemon species alongside social hierarchies. She helped Professor Samual Oak establish the Pokedex and wrote all entries for the first generation Pokedex and contributes to future versions to this very day._

_She is head of the exclusive Giants organization where she represents the Hoenn region._

"Gentleman, I understand you have a very difficult history. But you must put your differences aside." Even with old age, she was clearly one of the tallest in the room. And her voice seemed to have an otherworldly sense to it. "We have created this contest to expand the scientific field. For so long, professors worked with trainers in hopes of valuable discoveries being made in the process of their Pokemon journeys. This has had very limited success."

She paused as she searched for the right words to use. Political correctness was key here despite her strong, personal feelings on the subject.

"The trainers are distracted by gyms, tournaments, festivals, and leagues. They do not approach new phenomena or Pokemon with a scientific lens and lack the proper scientific training. We give them expensive equipment and they phone in once in a great while, if at all, to report things of small consequence in a sloppy to non-cohesive matter." She closed her eyes seriously. "This competition is our chance to shine. We have the potential to gain so much." She then glanced at Gary Oak, "Let's not screw this up."

"Sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize, Gary. You must keep your emotions in check next time." She then turned to the instigator. "And you need to start being more sensitive."

Dr. Brinks pointed at Professor Gary Oak in an accusatory matter, "But he-"

"Well, don't start the fire, Richard, or you'll get burned!"

The spy suddenly found himself in the gaze of Cilias who grew bored of Dr. Pines chewing the two senior male scientists out. The young man's mouth ajared at the sight of him.

The spy knew the gig was up and his cover was blown. He prepared to leave if someone else looked up. Cilias yanked Donelle's flowy, feminine shirt and pointed upward, but she slapped his hand away. The intruder relaxed and sat back down, seeing as no one else was going to look up, and waved at the scientist, which left the blond steaming.

"Two years. Does two years sound good to everyone?" Donelle asked.

The whole room agreed and then all heads turned to Nebula Pines.

"That sorts out all the details." The elder woman knocked her staff on the table like a gavel to signify the end of the meeting. "Congratulations, everyone. The Discovery Challenge is now official."

* * *

The sounds of running footsteps on the stone roads echoed in the air as Cilias, wanting to find answers, tried to catch up with the mysterious person eavesdropping on the meeting. He now knew why this place was called the Castle of Figueras. He had to slow his speed through the thick fog to avoid the various obstacles in his path. Thanks to the thick cloud cover, the castle and its surroundings seemed to fade from existence. The only thing to aid him was that he was running down a road. That, and his determination.

Normally, Cilias wouldn't be wasting his precious time on chasing around some random stranger. But Cilias, upon seeing the fleeing spy, thought he saw distinctive birthmarks. And he only knew one person that had such birthmarks. He had many questions to ask. If only he could catch up to the fleeing man.

He heard the sound of falling water up ahead and railed as sound of a roaring waterfall erased the sound of footsteps of the one he was chasing. He sat near the edge of pond formed by the waterfall and sighed. He took in the quiet, soothing scenery and sighed. That person was long gone by now.

Cilias lied down on the damp ground, pulling some nearby grass from its roots, and whispered to himself as he let the blades fall from his fingers, "Vois best hiem."

In the distance he could make out a mammalian creature with spiked hair with a color pattern of light tan and brown stripes. The small, stubby legs shuffled around a bit, paws dug for roots, and its thick tail, about the length of its body, wagged as it found something to eat.

Cilias couldn't resist and got up to approach the animal, which attempted to hide in some nearby shrubs in response. The young man then sat, closed his eyes, and began talking to tongues. It looked at Cilias warily at first but then was suddenly magnetized by what the human was saying. Like a spell had hit it, the raccoon approached him and put a paw on the sitting man's leg and looked at him with large, curious eyes.

"Hall om mig nu."

The Zigzagoon compiled and began to snuggle amongst Cilias. It let out a couple of small, rhymic growls and pleaded him with large, chocolate eyes. Cilias compiled too and scratched it behind its hard to reach ear. It let a growl of pleasure.

"So that's how you do it. You don't use technology to know what Pokemon are saying. You have the gift of being able to talk to Pokemon naturally. Very impressive."

"Whose there!?" Cilias, clearly startled and caught off guard, immediately got up and the raccoon scurried off. The fog cleared and, for the first time, he got a clear look of the person he was pursuing.

"I think you already know who I am, Cilias, my dear boy. The real question is who you are."

The man knew Cilias was annoyed by his spying more than his peers would be. Perhaps this was because Cilias kept a lot of secrets himself.

"You seem to already know me if you know my name." The youngest of The Giants retorted.

"I don't know your last name. Do you even have one? You quickly made a name for yourself in science but people don't just appear out of nowhere."

"What are you implying?"

"You look a lot like Colress. So, tell me Cilias, did he have a son?"

"None of your business!"

Of course Cilias wouldn't admit it. Colress' involvement in Team Plasma long ago forced the ex-scientist to go into hiding. Yet Cilias couldn't hide his relation to the man. He was the splitting image of his father. The elder male chuckled as he was safely hid from view from the mist. The young one, seeing a collection of rocks protruding from the pond's surface, jumped on one and instantly went after him.

He almost lost his balance and it didn't help that the lewd rocks seemed to be getting smaller and smaller the further along he went. Still, his curiosity kept him going.

* * *

He must have been following the trail of the stranger for over five minutes when the mist invaded the area once more. The sound of the water wall long receded and the shore was no longer in sight. Cilias froze as he realized he had no clue where he was going. Every direction was only a veil of gray.

He heard a click as if the man had unfastened something from his belt and a whoosh as an object was thrown in the air. A bright, white light temporarily pierced the gloomy veil and was replaced then by a silhouette. The form was coiled and then blurred as it swiftly retreated to somewhere unknown.

Cilias felt himself quail at this. He had no idea that the man was armed! He decided that it was now too risky to pursue and began to head back to what he guessed was the shore. If the prying man wanted to use such means to get away then the wisest course of action was to simply let him go.

He stopped when glowing red eyes stopped just a short distance ahead of him. Bright, glowing egg-shaped lights appeared in the sky and exploded on the ground at impact. The seed bomb attack stopped Cilias in his tracks.

"Okay, you can stop now! I'll leave you alone!"

Silence only greeted him at this point, and he at first assumed that an understanding had taken place between him and the other man. It was apparent this was not the case as he sensed movement to his right.

"I swear, I won't follow you anymore!" He could feel this heart throbbing as he sensed more movement again. He was worried the next seed bomb attack would hit him. "Call off the attack!"

Cilias' eyes widened with fear and he let out a surprised scream as a Serperior lashed out at him, face first, from the fog. The youth attempted to evade, but it was too late. He was caught off balance and braced himself to fall into the water but was roughly caught by the elongated body of the creature. Like a trigger, as soon as he made contact with the beast, it wrapped around him. He felt the soft, leathery skin on the snake tightly constrict him.

"Please!" He cried in vain to stop the assault and was silenced as the tip of her tail covered his mouth.

"I wasn't planning on taking you today, but I am an opportunist." The spy revealed himself once again and put on a grin of superiority at the sight of his captive who had an empty belt buckle. "What's best is you left your protection at home."

Of course Cilias left his Pokemon at home! Pokemon were not permitted on these grounds due to the castle being a historical landmark. The powerful creatures could damage the grounds beyond repair. He just hated how this turned into one of the biggest inconveniences of his life.

Cilias then realized that following him was a trap. The man had planned to kidnap Cilias the moment the youth decided to follow him. And he knew that Cilias would have no means to stop him. A mixture of anger at himself being so stupid and a deep fear of snakes caused him to thrash and let out muffled cries for help. He was only greeted with a heart stopping squeeze. His breathing was temporarily halted from the tightness but, sensing this, she slightly loosened her grip.

"The more you struggle, the stronger her hold on you will be. I advise you to stop before she breaks a few of your bones. Surrender completely and no harm will come to you."

Cilias gave his captor a look of fiery contempt, but he complied. There was no way a man of his size would be able to escape the grasp of a huge and powerful snake. He knew when he was beat.

* * *

Dr. Richard Brinks was searching in vain for the missing Cilias. He thought he had heard pleas from his colleague but then there was silence. Fearing the worst, he quickened his pace. Being physically fit, he was able to quickly jump from slippery rock to slippery rock faster than the other scientist had and was quickly making ground.

Following closely behind him was a ladybug-like creature. It was clear that she would be good use when Dr. Brinks saw his colleague was in the grip of a Serperior.

"Ledian, Silverwind!"

Her short antennae wiggled and she put her four arms straight in the air, beat her wings furiously, and began to spin. A powdery, shimmering wind directly slammed into the serpent at a high speed.

The Serperior cried out in pain and Dr. Brinks wasn't surprised a grass Pokemon like it would be prone to a little bug like his. The snake's cells were not eukaryotic like most creatures, and it shared the same cell type as plants. Bug attacks had chemicals which were able to directly attack and damage these cells which made them super effective.

The Ledian glowed as she seemed to become stronger, not drained, from the energetic attack. It was clear that this attack temporarily increased her stats like he had hoped. Dr. Brinks was determined to deliver the final blow before the Serperior could recover.

"Bug Buzz, fifteen degrees north."

Her wings beat rapidly and the vibrations began to shake the ground and water around them. Her large, dark blue eyes narrowed as she focused on hitting the mark her trainer had ordered. She then lifted the red shield of her wings to release the soundwave like a slingshot.

The wave crashed directly into the head of the other Pokemon and, not liking the odds, she began to slither away in defeat. The snake looked at her victim one last time directly in his eyes, not wanting to disappoint her master, but she felt her muscles weakening. It was too much for her, and she dropped him. She went somewhat further up ahead, into the mist away from the view of her attackers', and collapsed from exhaustion.

Dr. Richard went to retrieve his friend but realized that he didn't know exactly where the Serperior had dropped Cilias and visibility wasn't exactly excellent.

_Crap._

* * *

The spy grimaced as he realized the assailant was no other than Dr. Richard Brinks. His knowledge proved to quickly incapacitate one of his strongest Pokemon.

It was obvious that the offense expert was ready for a full on battle if need be. The last thing the spy wanted was to bring attention to himself. He would use the fact that he hadn't been seen by the professor yet to his advantage. He raised the spherical object thrown earlier and a red light engulfed the downed Serperior.

"Cilias, if you reveal my identity there will be consequences. Very severe consequences." He warned sternly as he disappeared into the thick mist for good.

The scientist then heard his colleague calling for him but couldn't respond. He guessed he was too weak from the encounter. It was like the creature had squeezed the fight of him. But then his head and body started to lose buoyancy, and he felt himself sinking into the water. Surely he had the strength to at least stop himself from drowning. But then why couldn't he move? It was then that Cilias realized he had been paralyzed by the last glare that the Serperior had given him.

He really hoped Richard would find him before he sunk to the bottom of the pond, but it didn't seem likely as he was already now completely submerged. The serpent had already squeezed most of the oxygen out of him so he would last even less time under the water.

The corners of his field of vision started to blacken and his consciousness started to fade away until it seemed there was barely anything. He really hated that it had to end this way. All this hard work and sacrifice to become a Giant would amount to nothing. In addition, there was something ironic that he would have survived if Richard hadn't interfered.

A bright light appeared. He sighed internally as he found it becoming ever brighter. He guessed what happened in this world didn't matter now that he was leaving it forever. At least he would have one of life's most heavily guarded secrets finally revealed to him. He was always up for a new discovery.

"Cilias!" Richard exclaimed after he yanked the young scientist to the surface. "Talk to me!"

He instantly noticed the rigidity and non-responsiveness of the kid. He did enough tests on Stun Spore to know what condition Cilias had. He dug into his brown coat for a paralyze heal. People thought he was nuts for carrying so much on him, but he always knew it would come in handy. Paranoia was an inconvenience but it worked.

Cilias started to regain motion and the first thing he did was cough up the water that happened to enter his orifices. He came to and realized the light was from him coming back to the surface. He supposed the mysterious of life after death would have to wait.

"Are you okay? What happened!?"

"Wild Serperior attacked me." Cilias lied and shut his eyes to not betray the truth. "And because of the rules I didn't have a way to protect myself."

"Luckily, I don't follow the rules." Dr. Brinks and his Ledian smiled at each other. He helped his fellow scientist upward and supported him on one of his broad shoulders. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

* * *

Nebula Pines knew something was odd when a Zigzagoon had literally crashed the dinner party at the castle. With the observation of a blond hair found on it, alongside the absence of Cilias, it was not hard to put the pieces together.

They had followed the creature downhill and Richard Brinks, being younger and more physically fit, went to search for Cilias. Dr. Pines' worst fear was that he had drowned. Sure, the young man was smart, capable, and motivated, but he lacked common sense.

She craned her head as she saw the two come toward the shoreline. The usually spick and span Cilias was now a disheveled mess. His beautiful, well kept lab coat and jeans were in shreds. His usual combed-back, neat hair was damp and slightly frizzy. His glasses were broken and he was slightly blue in not only the face but in the fact there were huge bruises all over his body. Clearly, this was more than a thwarted drowning.

"What's going on!?"

"Just a wild and unfriendly Serperior, Dr. Pines." Richard said as he helped the youngest human tread through the water. "My Lady and I took care of it."

Immediately, upon reaching the shore, the weakened youth felt a gentle brush of fur at his ankles. Looking downward, he saw the one he had snuggled with earlier. He could see the concern and caring this simple creature had for him. It had sensed something was wrong, despite the distance between them, and went for help.

"Thank you, friend." Cilias went down to affectionately stroke the creature's head.

Nebula Pines saw the younger scientist with the furry creature. The wild Pokemon proved surprisingly tame around Cilias but this wasn't surprising as he always had a way with connecting with Pokemon. So it didn't exactly add up that a wild Pokemon would attack him like this. Yet, with the damage he sustained and a reliable witness, what other conclusion could she come to? She supposed there would always be exceptions to the rule. That included wild Pokemon.

"Ah, so no wonder this little one came up to us to tell us you were in trouble. It seems like you two already knew each other." Dr. Brinks said.

Cilias and the coon simply looked at each other and a wordless exchange and understanding took place. There was no doubt that this protective, intelligent, and intuitive Zigzagoon would prove a valuable addition to his life. He wordlessly picked up his new team mate and walked back with his elders to the castle.

"We have a lot to prepare for the Discovery Challenge, so let's go home gentlemen."


End file.
